E-text prepared by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Mary Meehan,
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
()
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHAPTER XIX.
CHAPTER XX.
CHAPTER XXI.
CHAPTER XXII.
PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS
There are a thousand small and apparently accidental circumstances,which, in our course through life, bring a temporary gloom upon us,render our expectations from the future fearful and cheerless, anddiminish our confidence in all those things whereon man either rashlyrelies or builds his reasonable trusts. Strength, youth, wealth, power,the consciousness of rectitude, the providence of God: all these willoccasionally lose their sustaining influence, even upon the most hopefulmind, from causes too slight to justify such an effect.
These accidental circumstances, these mental clouds, resemble much thoseother clouds which sometimes, at the close of a bright day, come over alandscape previously warm and shining, cast a gray shade over its richhues, shut out the redoubled glory of the setting sun, and make gloomand shadow spread over the summer scene. Though nothing is changed butthe light in which things dwell, though the colour of the tree and theform of the rock are the same, yet the brightness of the whole isdeparted, and the lustre gone out as if for ever.
There are times, however, when a gloom, which seems to have nocounterpart in the physical world, comes over the mind; when all hasgone fairly with us; when every object around is full of brightness andhope; when the horses of Fortune's car have never once even stumbled onthe way; and not a sorrow rough enough to rub the down from the wing ofa butterfly has fallen upon our hearts for years; and yet a deep andshadowy despondence steals over